Association of Righ-Risk Human Papillomavirus and Ureaplasma parvum Co-Infections with Increased Risk of Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Cervical Lesions

Noma, Isabella Harumi Yonehara; Shinobu-Mesquita, Cristiane Suemi; Suehiro, Tamy Taianne; Morelli, Fabricio; De Souza, Maria Vitória Felipe; Damke, Edilson; Da Silva, Vânia Ramos Sella; Consolaro, Marcia Edilaine Lopes

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.4.1239

Association of Righ-Risk Human Papillomavirus and Ureaplasma parvum Co-Infections with Increased Risk of Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Cervical Lesions

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

Department of Clinical Analysis and Biomedicine, Clinical Cytology Laboratory, State University of Maringá (UEM), Paraná, Brazil.

10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.4.1239

Abstract

Objective: The present report investigated the rates of coinfections between high-rik human papillomavirus (hrHPV) and the most important human mycoplasmas including Mycoplasma hominis, M. genitalium, Ureaplasma urealyticum and U. parvum in cervical samples of asymptomatic brazilian population. Methods: Were included a total of 283 women aged 25–64 years screened by Papanicolaou smears for determining cervical abnormalities, single-target polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR (rt-PCR) for hrHPV and mycoplasmas, respectively. Results: A total of 273 (94.5%) women were negative for intraepithelial lesions or malignancy cytology (NILM) and 10 (3.5%) presented abnormal cytology, all low-grade intraepithelial lesions (LSIL). The prevalence of hrHPV was 12.7% and 53.7% for mycoplasmas. U. parvum was the most frequently bacteria detected, followed by Mycoplasma hominis and U. urealyticum. M. genitalium was not detected. Women positive for U. parvum presented a 5-fold increased risk of LSIL (OR = 5.33; 95% CI = 1.09-26.04, P = 0.02) and co-infections between U. parvum and hrHPV increased the risk for LSIL (OR = 3.88; 95% CI = 1.75-8.58, P = 0.0003). However, these associations were not dependent on the concentration of the bacteria. Conclusion: Our results reinforced the hypothesis that some mycoplasmas may play a role as cofactors in HPV-mediated cervical carcinogenesis, at least in some populations.

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